The New Girl
by InfernoAlive
Summary: Clary Morgenstern's life has been turned upside-down when she and her family are forced to move to England after her parents get a new job opportunity. At her new school, Alicante High, she thinks that she'll never be able to fit in but when a certain golden-eyed jock starts to take an interest in her, will it change all that?
1. Chapter 1

Clary Morgenstern hated moving. Hated the hurrying around, the packing, the _moving._ Most of all the changing. She'd had to leave her school and friends behind, the house that she'd grown up in. All because her parents had to pick a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and move to god-forsaken England.

What was wrong with Brooklyn anyway? There were plenty of interesting jobs there! Her parents hadn't been that open-minded when she'd brought it up, and repeated the same meaningless babble about 'how fortuante they'd all been' and how 'couldn't she be a bit more grateful like her brother?'

Jon couldn't care less really, whether they were moving or not. He sat in the back of the car with her, competely and utterly expressionless the whole way. Of course _he_ wasn't worried! Highschool was easy for him; all Jon had to do was walk through the front doors with his trademark smirk and there you have it, top place in social society just like that!

Clary was the complete opposite. It had taken her all year to make the friends that she'd just left behind, and they probably weren't going to miss her as much as she was going to miss them. And she wouldn't walk through the front doors like Jon; her bet was she was going to trip on something and hurtle through them.

She sighed, leaning her head back against the seat as the worries invaded her mind. Jocelyn was staring at her worriedly in the rear-view mirror, "Honey, it's going to be okay. Your Dad and I looked up Alicante High recently and it looks to be a very nice school..."

"Looks to be," Clary pointed out, dragging a lazy hand through her red curls, "It's still full of teenagers Mum, and teenagers are always horrible, wherever you go." Jocelyn frowned at her, her bright green eyes crinkling at the corners in concern. It was times like this when Clary wished she looked like her mother, who was stunning in every way possible, with rich, wavy red hair and elegant bone structure. Clary's hair was always a peramanent frizz, no matter how many times she tried to tame it with a brush, and her face was round and chubby, like a baby's even though she was sixteen.

Her brother, on the other hand, looked exactly like a younger verison of their dad, with white-blonde hair and similar height and facial features. They both had green eyes like their mother.

Jon laughed from next to her, tapping away on his phone, "It doesn't help that you always mumble when people talk to you and hide behind your hair. Not the best first impression, you know." Clary scowled at her brother, who looked up briefly to see her expression and just laughed harder, "And faces like that don't help either!"

"Both of you quit squabbling!" Valentine barked from the driver's seat, his fingers bone white on the steering wheel, "This is a big change for all of us so the least you could do is to suck it up for the last few hours until we get there! Alright?" It was the kind of question that Clary and Jon knew not to answer when Valentine was in a mood like this, and just nodded silently. Though when their father's attention was back on the road, her brother stuck his tongue out at her, smirking devilishly. Clary had to bite her tongue to keep from giving him a few colourful retorts.

Jocelyn was biting her lip as she turned around to face her two children, "You don't need to worry about it Clary. It won't be so bad, you'll make new friends, wow some more teachers with your amazing art skills..." Clary managed to give her mother a grudging smile. She loved drawing, or anything to do with art in general. When she had a pencil in her hand, she felt like she was born with it, and the minute it touched the page, she was inspired.

Her mother smiled back before turning around to face the front and Clary was instantly bored. How long had Dad said? A few hours? This was going to be torture... She tried to crane her neck as subtly as possible to see what Jon was doing on his phone and saw he was texting a girl, presumably his girlfriend from Brooklyln. He'd mentioned earlier about breaking up with her as soon as they arrived, since he'd decided a few hours ago that long-distance relationships didn't work for him.

 _Asshole,_ Clary had thought and now she felt a stab of pity for the girl whom Jon was sexting right this minute, unfairly stringing her along until he didn't feel like it anymore. She was about to point this out when she read the most recent message and was offically, emotionally, scarred for life.

Jon looked over at her and smirked at her face, whispering under his breath so Mum and Dad wouldn't hear, "Naughty sis! You know better than to read anything _this_ X-rated." Her cheeks flamed, an annyoing habit of hers whenever she felt any particularly strong emotion.

"Says the person that wrote it!" She hissed back and he chuckled, going back to his X-rated connversation on his phone. Clary rolled her eyes and turned away, resting her cheek on the window and reaching up a hand to trace the raindrops pattering lightly on the glass as it had started to rain.

Was moving to England going to be 'not so bad' as her mother had put it? Was this Alicante High really going to be okay? At the moment, the devil on her shoulder was winning out the angel. Who said this was going to be any different to similar situations she'd read in books, where the main character went through hell trying to fit in? She groaned internally, the image of bitchy girls whispering and giggling in groups as she passed, the scoffing of boys betting as to who would deflower 'Carrot' first filling up her head until she thought she would drown in the humiliation of it all.

'Carrot' was the nickname she'd been opted at her last school, for her insanely red hair and insanely short height. Of course, it was absolutely hilarious how both names for her started with the letter C, so hilarious... She felt the beginning of tears prick her eyes as she remembered a jock come up to her at lunch one day, whispering in her ear that he liked her, that he'd like to see her out of school sometime... She'd been so stupid, smiling like an idiot until he announced for the whole of the school to hear in the cafeteria, "Oh, I'm flattered Carrot, really I am, but don't you think that it would be awkward with me being like, five feet taller than you? Maybe give it a few years sweetheart!"

Everyone had laughed their asses off as she fled the lunch hall, and for the next few days, boys went around yelling sweetheart after her in the corridor and girls hunched down to match her height, sniggering. In a way, Clary should've been over the moon that she was moving away but it only made her more worried to be the new girl at a whole new school. She saw it as an unknown threat.

Back to the present, she heard Valentine ask her mum for the map, saying something about a final road. Final road? They were almost there? She jolted upright, nearly banging her head on the window the same Jon calmly took out his earbuds and leaned forward in interest. They were driving down a road, terrraced houses on each side, the occasional pub on the corner, and Clary took the oppurtunity to stare at the people they drove past. They seemed normal enough, but that only made her more nervous.

Then Jocelyn called out, "There you go guys! The highschool's coming up, just up that road!" Clary bit her lip, craning her neck to see a large redbrick building ahead, that looked almost like a church, with a huge stain glass window set above the front steps. It depicted an angel holding a sword and a cup in each hand.

"The school was originally a church," clarified Jocelyn, confirming Clary's earlier thoughts, "So the whole layout is very religious and grand. They have a big thing about angels, fallen and otherwise, all that stuff. Very interesting!"

Jon cocked an eyebrow but didn't comment, putting his earbuds back in. Clary, however, leaned forward until her forehead was touching the window, sighing at the grand design of the highschool, somehow lifting the worry from her heart. Then the view of Alicante High disappeared as they drove down another road, and she slumped back down in her seat.

Valentine pulled in a few minutes later, and the car stopped. Clary nudged Jon and he turned off his phone and opened the car door. She did the same, and found herself looking up at a house. Their new home.

After dragging her suitcase out of the boot, she trudged up the front steps, the wheels scraping agaisnt the tarmac as she made her way over. Just as she was about to step up to the front door, a football sailed past her, narrowly missing her head and bouncing off of the wall.

She heard a shout, "Dammit, Alec! Why'd you have to kick it so hard?" And then, a boy came running up to her, grabbing the ball from the ground.

"I'm so sorry, my brother's a real douchebag sometimes..." The boy faltered off as he met her gaze, his mouth slightly open. Clary found herself blushing because the boy was _very_ attractive. As in so attractive that it should be illegal. He had blonde hair, curling close to the nape of his neck, and a beautifully, chiselled face. He wore a blue football jersey with shorts, which betrayed strong muscles and biceps. His eyes were mesmerising, a rich golden colour like champagne and Clary found herself swallowing almost as if she were drinking it.

"Oh, it's fine," she blurted out, realising the awkward silence they'd dropped into, "Um, I've got a douchebag of a brother as well, so I understand..." The boy grinned at her, tossing the football around in his hands.

"I don't remember seeing you around before. You just moved here I take it?" She opened her mouth to answer when she heard Jon shout her name, and a sickening dread collected in the pit of her stomach. Oh God no, if Jon embarrassed her now...

"Cla-ry! Why the hell did you just shoot off like that? I thought you'd end up hibernating in the bloody car after all the depression you seemed to be on the way up here..." Jon joined her on the steps, dragging along his own suticase. When he noticed the boy standing next to her, his green eyes narrowed slightly and a smirk teased at his lips.

"Whose this hunk you've already set your eyes upon, Lissy?" Oh great, he was even using that damn nickname! Clary felt her cheeks start to heat up as she stared at the floor, wishing it would come alive and swallow her whole.

"This hunk has a name. Jace Lightwood." the boy answered and Clary looked up, her hair falling in her face. Jace was smirking at her brother, unruffled, and she could see how it unnerved Jon to have someone so unaffected by him. In their last school, everyone knew not to get on his bad side but Jace looked as intimidated as a lion next to a gazelle, "You must be the douchebag of a brother I've heard about."

Jon looked outraged whilst Clary struggled not to laugh out loud. Jace saw her expression and his grin grew wider, showing white teeth. She was surprised; usually boys around her age had teeth that looked absolutely revolting. Jace's were mirrors compared to them. But then again, comparing the likes of Jace to ordinary boys was simply not fair.

Jon grit his teeth, "So, Lightwood? Why are you even here?" Jace shrugged, holding his football.

"Little accident that's been taken care of, nothing more." His golden eyes lingered on Clary again, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a bit unsettled by it, "You guys going to Alicante High?"

Clary opened her mouth to reply but Jon beat her to it, "We might be. What's it to you?" She sensed the challenge in those words, but Jace didn't react except to shrug again, undeterred by it.

"Then I guess I'll see more of you soon. Until then, Clary and Douchebag." He gave them both a wink before running off, throwing the ball in the air and catching it as he ran.

Jon clenched his fists as he watched him go, "What a dickhead! Why were you even talking to him, Clare?" She barely took notice of him, too busy replaying the previous scene in her head and couldn't help the small smile that she betrayed.

"Jealous much Jon?" She teased and he rolled his eyes, walking up to the door of their new home. She followed him with a smirk, as they both waited for Jocelyn and Valentine to finish unpacking the boot.

Tomorrow, she and Jon would be joining Alicante High. She only hoped that the other students were as nice as Jace seemed to be.

* * *

 **Hello readers! Thank you for reading the first chapter of The New Girl. Do you think I should continue with it?**

 **Please review/favourite/follow!**

 **~InfernoAlive**


	2. Chapter 2

Jon was still grumbling his ass off by the time Jocelyn and Valentine had finished unpacking the boot and were walking up the steps to meet them. Of course he didn't hesitate to mention the blonde prick that she'd been flirting with, "against the wishes of their beloved parents".

Jocleyn gave her a look as if to say _You and I are talking about this later, Clarissa Morgenstern._ She groaned internally; her family was unbelievable! All she'd done was struck up a few friendly words with a guy and they instantly turned paranoid. What did they think she was, a whore?

Once they'd all joined up on the steps, Valentine fished out a key from his pocket and fit it in the lock, making the door spring open. Clary felt like she was walking into a museum exhibit as they walked in slowly, intimidated into not being able to touch anything. It didn't help that all their furniture that had been shipped from Brooklyn was covered in thick, white sheets that she was afraid would leave fingerprints. Shuffling in behind Jon, she gaped at the inside of a house that she would apparently be living in from now on. It didn't feel real, more like a dream, and she wondered when she would stop thinking about her last house as home and this one as it.

Snapping into motion, she ran up the stairs, determined to get the bigger bedroom. Jon was right behind, yelling, "Oldest child gets the bigger bedroom Lissy! For God's sake – Mum tell her!"

Clary laughed, picking up her suitcase in her hands and hurling upwards, skidding along the landing to begin her search. Jon was covering more ground than her with his long strides compared to her smaller ones. She could almost feel his haggard breathing on the back of her neck, catching up with her so easily, when she was almost out of breath!

She finally gave up, stopping to a halt and huffing as she heard Jon's cackling ahead of her. Ugh, what did it matter anyway? Let the white-blonde bastard get the bigger bedroom! What she needed to be worried about was her first day at Alicante High. Tomorrow, only a few hours away.

…

 **Xx_The Next Morning_xX**

…

"Clary? Wake up sweetheart..." Jocelyn cooed, ruffling her hair gently. Clary groaned into the mattress, pulling the pillow over her head. No, no... She so didn't want this morning to come... "Come on darling, I know its hard but it was going to come sooner or later. Just get it over and done with, alright?" When she was met with silence, Jocleyn sighed, reaching down to kiss her daughter's head before leaving the room.

Clary emerged from underneath her duvet, straining to hear downstairs. She could hear Valentine tapping away at his laptop in the room he'd made into his office yesterday. Jon's heavy metal music was pounding across the landing at high volume, making her wince. With a sigh, Clary stumbled into the bathroom, locking the door behind her and managing a smile when she noticed how Jocelyn had arranged all her bath stuff the way she liked it in the cabinet and the message on the post it note stuck to the mirror: _**Life is short. Keep smiling while you still have teeth ;-)**_

She snorted, stripping herself of her clothes quickly and stepping into the shower. When she came out, wrapping the towel around herself and wringing out her soaking wet hair, she wandered into her bedroom. After drying her hair and pulling it into a high ponytail, she sifted through her wardrobe for the perfect outfit for the day. Nothing too snobby to make people hate her... nothing too scruffy to make people think she was some kind of tramp... ugh, shit this...

She pulled out a pair of white, ripped jeans and a blue sweater that read _Romantic_ across it in elegant calligraphy. Nothing too showy or horrible, just... her.

After running down the stairs, Clary joined her mum in the kitchen, side-stepping the occasional boxes piled high with stuff still not unpacked. Jon stampeded down a few minutes later, calling out, "Don't think you're going off to school without me, Lissy! Just to get some alone time with Lightwood!" Clary blushed fiercely, her thoughts morphing into those mesmerising pools of gold that seemed to be the essence of the sun itself.

"Shut up, Jon," She seethed, thumping down a loaf of bread onto the table, "Just because the first person we met here doesn't like you." He smirked, seemingly unaffected by her comeback and she clenched her jaw.

"Lightwood? Who's he?" Jocelyn asked, clearly trying to sound neutral but there was a tinge of motherly alarm to her tone. Jon sneered, leaning up against the larder door.

"Go on, Lissy. Tell Mother Dearest who exactly Lightwood is." Clary scowled at him, picking up a knife from the cutting board. Jocelyn and Jon's eyes widened slightly, her mother reaching over to intervene before she scoffed.

"I'm not going to pull a psychotic rampage, Mum. And _Jace_ is just a friendly neighbour we met yesterday. Nothing more." Jocelyn visibly relaxed, and Clary began to make a sandwich for her lunch.

As Jon made his way out of the kitchen, he bent close to her and whispered so only she could hear, " _Yet."_

When the idiot started to chuckle, Clary picked up a spatula from the counter and hit him on the back of the head with it just as he was going out the door.

…

Clary's heart was beating faster and faster as Valentine drove closer and closer to Alicante High. She couldn't help thinking that if she had her driver's license now, she could've bunked off and missed the entire day of school, therefore missing her chance of humiliation and utter despair. Sigh.

But then her first day of school would have to come _someday_ and like her mother had said: just get it over and done with. Still, she bit her lip as she caught sight of the church-like building ahead, and for once being worried enough to drown out Jon's taunts from next to her. Damn it, why did they have to move, why couldn't they stay in Brooklyn...? There was nothing worthwhile here in bloody England, nothing she could possibly want to stay for-

What about Jace? Even though they barely knew each other, something about him drew Clary towards him. She scoffed to herself. It was called physical attraction: Jace had plenty to give to all admiring girls around. With his golden glory, Clary was probably about to join a whole crowd of crushing girls at AH. He might even have a girlfriend, actually it would surprise Clary if he didn't. Then a cold, slimy feeling collected in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Jace liking another girl.

Before her obsessive thoughts could continue, she heard Valentine call out, "Ok guys! Good luck!" and then the car stopped and they were staring out at Alicante High.

…

The first thing that Clary noticed was the fact that there didn't seem to be any students around. First period must have already began. She looked over at Jon but he just shrugged, wandering over to the reception desk. She followed and they found themselves staring at a woman with silvery-grey hair and eyes like shards of metal.

"Yes?" She asked, peering at them. Clary coughed awkwardly unlike Jon, who was completely at ease, leaning against the side of the desk like he owned it.

"Jonathan and Clarissa Morgenstern. Here for admittance to this school?" The woman frowned then a look of understanding passed over her face and she hurried over to a cabinet before pulling out a couple of folders.

"Oh, ok then! Let's see... yes here it's says that Jonathan – grade 11, is that right?" Jon nodded, "will be in class 11S. Your teacher is Mr Starkweather, he'll be right down to collect you in a minute." She looked over at Clary, as if just remembering her existence before turning back to the other folder, "And Clarissa will be in 10B, with your teacher being Mr Branwell. Same goes for you. Alright?"

They both nodded their thanks before she turned back to her computer and started typing, probably about to announce their arrival to the other teachers. Clary turned towards Jon who was leaning against a wall, whistling under his breath though she could faintly hear it. Just as she was about to say something to him, a man came walking up with a black suit and silver tie – to Clary he looked slightly scary.

He said a few words to Jon who said something back and they started to walk off. A weight bore down on her heart as she watched Jon leave her, the only person she really knew in this entirely new school. Then he turned around and called over his shoulder, "Good luck, Lissy!" She grinned despite the nickname and he grinned back before walking on, disappearing through a set of oaken double doors.

A few minutes later of hanging around without much of a purpose, Clary saw a man walking up the corridor. As he got closer, Clary saw he had wild, ginger hair like her – only hers was redder – and clear, blue eyes like glass. He wore a brown suit with a few quirky touches like badges pinned to his tie and pockets embroidered with his initials _H.W_ as well as a golden pocket watch hanging from his front pocket. It looked unusual, with more than two hands on the face and odd charms dangling from it like a brightly coloured feather, a metal charm of a shape Clary couldn't guess and a moon shaped locket that probably held a photo.

He greeted Clary with a goofy grin that put her at ease, "You must be Clarissa? Come with me, my dear, the classroom isn't that far." She mumbled a hopefully audible 'ok' before following after him. As they walked down the hallway, Clary marvelled at the works of art featured on the walls; paintings, textiles, sculptures, woodwork and... portraits. There was an empty space in that section and Clary brushed her fingers against it as they walked past, imagining her drawings up here, for the whole school to see.

Then they came to a door and Mr Branwell stopped. Instantly, worry and dread set in her bones and Clary bit her lip, hands fidgeting at frayed pieces of thread on her jeans. The door opened and she was forced to walk in after the teacher. The previous chatting that had taken place in the classroom faltered off into silence and she felt her face heat up. But then she'd remembered what Jon had said about making a good first impression and she held her head high, making eye contact with a few people in the room.

"Ok class, this is Clarissa Morgenstern and she'll be joining us today. Be nice to her!" Clary fought the urge of hiding behind her hair. Teachers said that thinking that it would help them fit in better but on the contrary, it was usually what caused bullying, "Okay Clarissa, there's a seat next to Isabelle over there on the far left..." A dark-haired girl waved at her, presumably 'Isabelle' and Clary wandered over, bewildered, before sitting down.

"Hey!" Isabelle smiled and Clary was gob smacked by how pretty she was with gorgeous, long black hair and dark eyes, "You can call me Izzy, I can't stick long names, I prefer to shorten them. You have a shorter name?"

Clary nodded, "Loads. My brother calls me Lissy when he's trying to wind me up but everyone mostly calls me Clary." Izzy pursed her lips then she looked amazed.

"Oh, you're the girl my brother was talking about yesterday! Yeah, I remember him going on about some beautiful redhead called Clary that just moved in on our road." Clary's cheeks flamed at 'beautiful redhead'. Clearly whoever had seen her was drunk or crazy. Or both.

"Oh yeah? Who's your brother?"

"Well, I have two – absolutely torture but I don't want to make you go deaf on your first day listening to me rant on and on about my messed up family!" Clary laughed. "The one that saw you is Jace and the other's Alec." At Jace's name, Clary's blood ran cold and her heart nearly stopped. Jace... called her beautiful? _Her?_

"Oh," she said then mentally kicked herself to keep the conversation going, "Jace doesn't look like you that much." Great, she had to say the first thing that came into her head and now Izzy was going to think she was weird like everyone else did and stop talking to her. Thankfully, she looked like she'd understood Clary's comment.

"Yeah, I know. It's because Jace is adopted. Alec looks a bit like me though." Clearly she didn't want to say anything about Jace's adoption and Clary didn't push her. She was about to say something else when Mr Branwell clapped his hands at the front of the classroom and the chatter died down.

"Ok 10B, period 2's about to start. Make sure you have all the necessities ready and have a good day!" Clary was uncertain when everyone else started to pack up around her, not sure which class she should go to next. Then Mr Branwell approached her and handed over a timetable.

"This was printed out at reception for you. Just ask some people where the classrooms are and they'll direct you." He gave her a wink before going back to his desk. Just as she was about to look through it, Izzy snatched it, reading it over.

"Aw, no fair," she pouted, "I have barely any classes with you today. What have you got for period 2...? Oh, History. Well, Jace has that class as well, at least." She handed the timetable back to Clary with a rueful smile, "See you at lunch then!" She left, her long hair swinging behind her but Clary barely noticed. She... she had a class with Jace. Right now.

Ok... ok... She took out her phone quickly, checking her reflection in the small screen, having to squint slightly. Her hair looked okay, not much worse than usual anyhow... Wait. What did she care if she looked good? She barely knew Jace and it's not as if she _liked_ him... Ok, well... She groaned internally, getting her stuff together and heading towards wherever History was, asking a few people along the way.

When she got to the door, albeit a bit late, she opened it slowly. About 30 pairs of eyes were trained on her, including the teacher's, as she hung in the doorway uncertainly. That uncertainty turned to something else as a certain pair of golden eyes found hers, and a certain pair of lips quirked up at the corners, making her knees go weak and her heart beat faster.

This was it.

* * *

 **Ok, thank you to all people that review/favourited/followed! Your support means so much to me so again, THANK YOU!**

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger but I promise you, there will be Clace in the next chapter. I'm hoping to get it up tomorrow, so fingers crossed!**

 **Also, do you think we can make it to 10 reviews for this chapter? I'd really appreciate it ;-)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Clarissa Morgenstern?" Clary barely heard the teacher calling to her, too focused on Jace's impish grin from across the room, the curl of his golden hair as it hit the sunlight, those lion-like eyes...

"Huh...? I mean, yeah?" the whole class sniggered, looking between her and Jace, whose his grin had grown even wider. The teacher – a woman in a dark pink dress suit with a nametag that read Mrs Blackthorn – shook her head and smiled.

"I thought it was you. I just got sent an email from Mr Branwell that you were to be joining this history class, though I haven't sorted out the seating plan for you yet, I'm afraid."

Just then, a golden hand shot up and everyone turned their heads towards the owner of the hand, "She can sit next to me, Mrs Blackthorn. Emma isn't here today anyway so the seat's free." Jace's teeth practically sparkled as he smiled at Clary, and she felt the blood rush her to her cheeks and she fought to remain calm. The other students wolf-whistled but Jace didn't seem to notice, only looking at Mrs Blackthorn expectantly.

"I don't see why not," she said, her lips twisting into a smirk, "Just don't get any ideas, Lightwood. Clary is new, and I doubt her family will want her innocence tainted on her first day here." The boys snorted, though the girls just frowned, giving Clary the evil-eye as she passed them to take the seat next to Jace. _Must be part of the Jace Lightwood fanclub,_ she thought.

When she sat down, she instantly felt eyes on her, and she knew very well who those eyes belonged to. Golden eyes to be specific.

"Hey, Douchebag's sister. Nice to see you again." Clary couldn't help but laugh, turning around to face him subtly when Mrs Blackthorn started the lesson, mentioning about the Battle of Hastings. He was even more breath-taking up close, and she gulped nervously. He smirked, watching her throat constrict, then his eyes slowly travelled upwards until they looked directly into her eyes and stayed there. There was a mischievous glitter in their depths, and Clary suspected he knew exactly what effect he was having on her.

"You too, Blue Jersey." To her relief, he smirked and if she hadn't imagined it, he'd leant closer towards her. Or she could have been imagining it. She took the opportunity to look at what he was wearing: a simple combination of denim jeans and a black t-shirt with some logo on it, but he made it look designer, the kind of thing a millionaire would wear, not an average sixteen year old. But then again, Jace was definitely not your average sixteen year old.

"So," Jace started, flipping open a textbook and absent-mindedly fidgeting with the corner of the page, "What made you decide to move here?" Clary tore her gaze away from where it had idled to his chest and blushed before composing herself.

"Oh, it wasn't my decision. My parents had this job opportunity you see, and we all had to move. It's shit but I'm healing." Jace sniggered, and a lock of hair fell in front of his eyes. Clary's fingers itched to brush it back for him so she bit her lip and clenched her fists to stop herself. Jesus, the very first time a guy showed a remote interest in her and her hormones went psycho! And Jace might not even be interested in her that way for crying out loud, he could just be being friendly... God she hoped not!

"Are you dissing our scones and afternoon tea down here in England?" Jace put on a posh accent and pulled a comical face and Clary cracked up, maybe a bit too enthusiastically but he didn't seem to notice or care if he did. He went back to his normal voice, "Your brother though, Douchebag? He in this grade?"

She shook her head, "He's in the one above, and his name's Jon so you don't have to keep calling him Douchebag."

"Jon, Douchebag, Jon, Douchebag..." Jace pretended to consider, "Nah, I think Douchebag's suits him better. Yeah, I'm sticking with that, Red." Clary started to laugh but faltered off.

"Red?" Jace paused with his fidgeting and broke his gaze from her eyes to her hair, the end of the ponytail brushing against her shoulder.

"Yeah. Why not? It suits you pretty well, like Douchebag suits your brother. I'm a professional as you can see, so don't doubt my nickname skills. Anyway, you can call me Blondie or Goldie or whatever. It could be our thing." At the words 'our thing', Clary struggled not to blush and scolded herself to get her mind out of the gutter.

"Alright Goldie," she decided and Jace grinned at her and Clary laughed. Then they both heard footsteps approaching and Jace quickly ducked his head down, fingers turning the pages of his textbook. Completely unprepared, Clary sat helplessly and stared at Mrs Blackthorn made her way over, hands on her hips. She didn't seem to be in the joking mood any more.

"Clarissa Morgenstern! Not the best first impression you can give me, messing around in class on your first day!" Clary hung her head, blood colouring her cheeks as she felt the whole class go silent around her, the burning of eyes on her like fingerprints pressing down on the skin.

"I'm sorry Mrs-"

"No apologies Miss Morgenstern! Pray tell the class what was so funny about my speech on one of the most horrific battles of all time?" Her whole body went numb with embarrassment as hushed whispers from her classmates descended. She thought she heard someone say Jace's name and her whole face went scarlet.

"Er, well... I..." she swallowed, wringing her hands in her lap uselessly then Jace cut in.

"It was my fault Mrs Blackthorn. I was messing around and Clary was just getting distracted by me. If anyone should be to blame, then it should be me." Clary felt her heart sink at the thought of Jace taking her punishment for her.

Mrs Blackthorn pursed her lips as she assessed the two, "I've been watching you two up until now, and _both_ of you have been talking and laughing like goodness knows what. Because it is Clary's first day I will turn a blind eye, but you, Jonathan, know the rules and for that, I will not be so lenient." Jonathan? Clary frowned in puzzlement but then quickly forgot when Mrs Blackthorn awarded Jace an hour and a half detention after school.

She opened her mouth to tell the teacher that it wasn't fair, but Jace caught her eye and mouthed sharply _Don't._ Clary scowled and slumped down in her seat, guilt and regret weighting on her heart. This was absolutely splendid; the first guy that genuinely seemed to like her, and now she'd got him a detention. If she were Jace, she would avoid her from now on. Then she felt a sickening dread, wondering if Jace might actually start to avoid her.

However, when Mrs Blackthorn started to talk about William the conqueror, Harold Hardrada and the rest, she felt a dig in her arm. She looked down and saw a folded piece of paper resting next to her on the desk. Confused, Clary looked over at Jace who seemed engrossed in what Mrs Blackthorn was talking about then his tawny eyes flicked to her and winked.

She smirked, stealthily unfolding the paper under the table and reading the quick scrawl across it: _**Don't feel bad. Usually when I get a DT with Mrs B, she lets me off any way.**_

Clary got out a pen and wrote underneath it before handing it back when the teacher turned around to write something on the board. _**You're quite the lady's man, aren't you Mr Lightwood?**_

A few seconds later, she heard a snort quickly turned into a cough from next to her and tried to suppress her grin. Then she got a reply. _**Of course I am, I'm stunningly attractive Red. How this news to you, I do not know.**_

Clary rolled her eyes, the arrogant bastard. _**Sorry, I was blinded by your rapidly inflating ego. Thank you for the clarification.**_

 ** _Any time_** _ **, Lissy, any time.**_ Clary huffed, instantly irritated by the nickname Jace had gotten from Jon. It was bad enough with one person in her life calling her it! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jace slouching in his chair, looking ridiculously smug with himself.

 _ **Piss off Goldie!**_

 _ **Oh, someone's got an attitude...**_

 _ **Someone's blonde hair dye is seeping into their brain...**_

 _ **FYI, my hair's naturally blonde :p**_

Clary sniggered at the emoji and was about to respond when she was jolted by the bell. End of period 2 which meant, according to her timetable that she had Art now. Her heart practically sang; she loved Art and now this was her time to shine! As everyone started to pack up and tuck their chairs in, Clary heard Jace call her name.

"Yeah?" she called back ,turning back around to see him just behind her.

"What've you got next then?"

"Art. You?" A flash of annoyance and disappointment passed over Jace's face.

"Geography with Mr Wayland. Shit lesson with a shit teacher." Clary laughed, absent-mindedly pulling her ponytail tighter. Jace watched her movements carefully, an odd look reflected in his golden eyes.

It made her skin heat up and when he did it for a few more seconds than was comfortable, she blurted out, "Is there something on my face or something?" He didn't react at first but then Jace started laughing.

"No, it's just that... I don't know, but your hair looks nicer when it's down not up like, that." Clary tried and probably failed to raise an eyebrow.

"When have you seen me with my hair down then?"

"First day I met you. Outside your house, remember?" Oh yeah! Now she felt stupid.

"Oh, that's right. Well..." she took out her hair band, letting her hair fall past her shoulders and brush against her shoulder blades, "That better for you Goldie?" Jace smirked and suddenly leaned forward, reaching out a hand to tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear. For an insane moment, she thought Jace was going to kiss her but then mentally kicked herself. Why would he kiss her? They might as well have just met for crying out loud, he probably just wanted to be friends...

"Much." he whispered huskily, his voice sounding so low and sexy that Clary's skin tingled everywhere and she found herself breathing hard. Then he drew back and gave a wink, calling over his shoulder, "See you later Red!" and jogged off to his shitty Geography lesson.

W... what? WHAT WAS THAT?! Okay, if Jace Lightwood just wanted to be friends and kept acting like _that_ to her all the time, this school was going to be hell.

* * *

 **Thank you so much guys, for all the fantastic reviews I received last night and today as well as new followers and favourites! It means more to me than you'll ever know ;-)**

 **Do you think we can break our goal and get to 15 reviews?**

 ***hugs all around* Happy Reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Clary was still trying to get her head around Jace when she came to the Art department, after noticing the cartoon picture of a paintbrush on the door. Carefully, she shouldered it open, carrying her books in one hand and holding the doorknob in the other.

This classroom wasn't like the others. The desks were much higher and the students sat on stools, wearing paint-splattered aprons as was the teacher. On the walls were lots of artwork, much more than there was in the hallway, and Clary almost got carried away by gazing at all of it. The teacher brought her out of her reverie.

"Clarissa Morgenstern?" She turned, shutting the door behind her and met the eyes of a friendly man with a blue paint stripe across his nose. He had hazel eyes, the kind that Clary admired for their beautiful colour though she'd never swap them for her emerald ones. They looked like they had a golden tinge to them but that could've just been the reflection of his spectacles which perched precariously on the edge of his nose. Also, he had neat, brown hair that had lighter natural highlights.

"Yes." she answered simply, walking further into the room. The teacher smiled warmly.

"Well, I'm Mr Graymark but my students call me Luke. Gives it a friendlier atmosphere in my opinion." Clary smiled back. She liked him already, which was important because he was her art teacher. To her, that was the most important teacher of all! "There's a seat between Mr Lewis and Mr Verlac just over there. Wave, boys!"

A boy with wild, brown hair and glasses waved enthusiastically and a taller boy with dark hair and eyes did a half-hearted raise of hand. Then, he looked up slowly and his bored expression disappeared and a grin replaced it. It sent a shiver down her spine but Clary straightened and walked over as confidently as she could, sliding onto the stool.

"Okay!" Luke clapped his hands, "Last week we started on our still life and you were asked to bring in your own fruits for the project but seeing that not many people did that, we will have to work on self-portraits. Observe." The art teacher took out a canvas from under his desk and showed it to the class. It was the perfect portrait of Luke and Clary awed. He'd even got that golden tinge in his eyes that she'd thought she'd imagined, "But just for practice, I want you to start on A4 paper, which has been placed in front of you. And begin!"

Clary grabbed a pencil and was just about to touch the paper when a voice that sort of sounded out of breath interrupted her, "Hi! I'm Simon!" She turned around and saw the boy with brown hair and glasses.

"Clary." she gave in return, holding out her hand for him to shake. Simon grinned in a goofy way, ad she laughed as he shook her hand. Then a deep voice from behind her made her laugh go sour. Clary swivelled her stool around slowly, before meeting the gaze of those dark eyes and that cruel twist of a mouth.

"Clary? I knew it was you when you walked in." He stated, chuckling slightly under his breath. She frowned, a sickening dread worming through her veins.

"What do you mean?"

He took out a sleek, black phone from his pocket, scrolling through something for a few seconds before showing her the screen, "That's you, isn't it? Flirting with Golden Boy in History? It's been all over Instagram for the past ten minutes or so." Clary gulped nervously, staring at the photo in disbelief. She saw herself and Jace sitting down, facing each other. She was mid-laughing and he was wearing that grin of his that made her heart beat faster. It had been taken from the row of chairs just behind them, but Clary couldn't guess who had taken it – she couldn't remember who had been sat behind her at the time. The caption below read: _Lightwood's at it again! Can't wait to see_ _ **seelie_queen**_ _reaction! X-D_

"Oh my god..." Clary sighed, slouching down in her stool, "It had to be me, didn't it?" Then she frowned and asked the dark-haired boy, "Who's ' seelie_queen' anyway?" A girl sitting across from them on the other side of the desk answered.

"Seelie Queen, only the head bitch in charge of the 10th grade of course. She and Jace have been friends since like, forever. She has this crazy idea that she and him belong together or something." She had straight, black hair and almond-shaped eyes so Clary assumed she was part Asian.

Then she smiled at Clary, "Aline Penhallow, by the way. The annoying guy next to you is my cousin, Sebastian." Then Aline grinned, her eyes glittering mischievously, "Is it true then? Were you getting it off with Jace Lightwood?"

Clary's cheeks flamed, "No! Jesus Christ, can't you talk to anyone around here without people thinking you want to get in their pants?!" Sebastian sniggered, Simon's glasses steamed up and he coughed awkwardly, and Aline more or less shared the same reaction as her cousin. Desperate to get off the subject she tried another tactic, "So, this Seelie's going to be after me now?"

Aline shrugged, "Probably. I would go into hiding if I were you. The girl may look harmless but she has vicious nails and a sharp mouth. She got mad because Kaelie tried to get with Jace so she made her a social outcast by digging up one of her biggest secrets ever and bringing it to the light."

Clary gulped. This girl sounded terrifying, "What was it?" She didn't notice Sebastian leaning in conspiratorially before he whispered in her ear, "Her boobs were fake."

It made her jump, so much that she nearly fell out of her stool, "Fake? As in plastic-surgery? But she's sixteen, that's just-"

"Crazy. Desperate." Aline finished for her, "That's what everyone else thought. So now she's the 10th grade's personal prostitute. High school's hard, but it's high school." **(AN: See what I did there? The Law is hard but it is the Law? Okay, never mind XD)**

Sebastian licked his lips, "She don't disappoint though, does Kaelie. Especially in bed." he waggled his eyebrows and Aline made a disgusted noise before throwing a pencil at him.

"Oh my god Sebby! We don't need to know about your long lost virginity, do we? Flippin' gross!" Clary laughed: Sebastian and Aline reminded her of her and Jon.

Then Clary heard Luke's voice call out, "How are we doing over here then?" and groaned at her empty page. For the second time today, she was going to get told off by a teacher for not paying attention. And this was Art! She didn't want her art teacher to note her down as one of the troublemakers!

Everyone around her didn't seem to care; Sebastian and Aline were casually careless and Simon had already started his portrait so he didn't have anything else to worry about. Clary was freaking out, staring at her page and willing it to do... something! Too late.

"Well, this is depressing..." Luke commented, walking along them and assessing their blank papers, "And I was told you had very good artistic potential Clary." She slumped at that; now Luke thought she was a dud.

"I'm so sorry, I was just-" Luke stopped her with a raised hand.

"Don't apologise. Just get it done before the lesson's finished and we can forget about it. You have 15 minutes." She nodded thankfully, picking up her pencil again and looking in the small hand mirrors set in front of everyone, biting her lip in concentration. Luke raised his eyebrows at the unmoving Sebastian and Aline, "That goes for all of you." They both sighed, rolling their eyes and beginning to draw.

When Luke was out of earshot, Sebastian muttered under his breath, "The dick's just trying to get at me. He knows I can't draw for shit." Aline's shoulders shook with laughter as she tried to suppress it.

"We all know that, Verlac. It's just hilarious to see what crap comes out on the paper that you call 'art'!" She whispered and Sebastian looked up briefly to scowl at her. Clary was barely paying attention to their conversation, she was too engrossed in her sketching. The curl of her hair, the sparkling pupils of her eyes on the paper, were as familiar as the back of her hand.

She sighed as she drew, in the process of smudging the outline of her cheekbone with her thumb when someone cleared their throat and she looked up. Simon smiled at her bashfully, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"That's really good!" he said, and Clary looked back at her drawing. She hadn't finished yet, there were some details that needed to be added in like the freckles across her nose and the highlights in her hair, but is was unmistakeably her. Clary knew she was good at drawing, _really_ good, but to say so just sounded self-absorbed, so all she said was, "Thanks."

Sebastian chuckled from the other side of her, "Trying to get into her pants, Lewis?" mimicking her accusation from earlier. Clary rolled her eyes and Simon blushed fiercely before resuming his own drawing. She looked over Sebastian's shoulder curiously, to get a glimpse of his drawing. So far there was a stick man with black hair scribbled on top of his head and an angry face.

Clary snorted and he turned around and glared at her, "Oh, shut up!" He looked at hers and tutted, "Not everyone can be as perfect as you, Morgenstern!" Clary still laughed and Aline peered over the desk and saw Sebastian's drawing as well. She smirked.

"Hey Sebby! Don't feel bad!" She leaned over, holding out her paper which showed another stick man with black hair but with a absurdly happy face, "Twinsies!" Sebastian scoffed, but grinned as well all the same. Then the bell rang and Luke walked up to the front of the class, smiling brightly.

"Okay guys! Remember to sign your name at the bottom of the portrait and hand them in as you walk out! We'll continue with these in the next Art lesson!" Clary signed her name in a flourish and walked with Simon, Sebastian and Aline to the teacher. Luke nodded approvingly at her portrait as she handed it in and it made her heart beat proudly.

"Well done Clary. This is excellent!" She smiled back at Luke, "Looking forward to seeing this in colour!" She laughed, before exiting the classroom and heading to lunch.

…

Clary looked around the cafeteria uncertainly, looking for a familiar face. Sebastian, Simon and Aline had all gone their own ways so now she was a loner, in a crowd of teenage strangers. Clutched in her hand was her sandwich she'd made earlier wrapped in cellophane and she tried not to crush it.

Then to her relief she heard a shout, "Clary!" and saw Izzy waving wildly at her from a table. She walked over quickly, ducking in to sit next to the black-haired girl.

"Thank god." she sighed, getting out her sandwich and putting it on the table, "I was worried that I was going to have no one to sit next to at lunch." Izzy chuckled, toying around with her pasta with a fork.

"I told you I'd sit with you at lunch, didn't I?" Clary shrugged, biting into her sandwich and savouring the taste.

"Well, yeah," she spoke awkwardly, "But with all that's been going on this morning, it was easy to forget."

She heard a snort from across the table and saw that there were two guys sitting opposite her and Izzy. One looked a lot like her except for his dazzling, blue eyes and Clary thought he must be Alec, her other brother. Next to him was a very spontaneous guy who was so sparkly that it hurt her eyes to look at him directly.

He wore a sequin-green vest and a a blue and pink striped blazer. His hair was spiked and dyed vivid colours at the end and he had green-gold eyes like a cat's. Alec looked like drab compared to him, wearing jeans and a dark blue jumper with a hole in the elbow. He snorted again, "Yep, it's been hectic on Instagram this morning, indeed." Clary pinked and Izzy scowled at the brightly colourful guy across the table.

"Shut _up,_ Magnus." she hissed but turned to Clary and said under her breath, "But seriously, what was up with that?" Clary groaned, sliding down in her seat until her chin rested on the table.

"It spread that far...? Does the whole grade know?" Izzy bit her lip.

"Well, it's Instagram, love." she said apologetically, "It's bound to get spread sooner than later. Anyway, why Jace-" she caught Clary's glare and started again, "What I mean is, _if_ it was true, I wouldn't ship it. He's my brother, so I should know if Jace is an asshole."

"A very attractive asshole." a voice cut in and Clary knew exactly who it was. She felt like she was going to throw up and fought to keep her sandwich down. Trying not to shiver, she felt the delicious warmth of his body as he slid into the seat next to her. Isabelle rolled her eyes.

"How long have you been hovering around, pervert?" Jace scoffed.

"Just about long enough to hear your _lie_ ," he stressed on the word,grinning, "about me being an asshole. Why exactly?" Thank god he hadn't been around long enough to hear that she _possibly_ liked him. Okay a bit. A lot.

"Common sense." Izzy dead-panned and Jace grinned again, shrugging off his jacket and slinging it over the back of the chair. His arm briefly brushed hers whilst doing so and the butterflies in Clary's stomach turned to bats, flapping their giant, leathery wings against her ribcage.

"Hey Alec, Magnus!" Jace smirked, leaning across the table, "Up for the match tonight, Alec? Well, practices, but still?" Alec sighed.

"Can't. Mum's dragging me to the dentist straight after 6th period." Jace's face fell, his golden eyes dulling slightly.

"Can't you tell her to change it?" His brother rolled his eyes.

"As if. You know she's tight on schedule. She hates changing things." Jace slumped down, his hair falling in his face. Alec's eyebrows knitted together worriedly as did Isabelle's.

"I'm going emo." Jace stated dully, "If I send you a text saying I'm going to jump, I won't mean figuratively." Izzy smirked but Alec genuinely looked alarmed. Clary chuckled.

"How could you jump figuratively? Throwing a photo of yourself over?" Jace turned to her as if just realising he was sitting next to her and his tawny eyes sparkled.

"Like hell I would do that!" he declared dramatically, "It would a great loss to the world if a photo of _me_ disappeared off the face of the earth!" Clary snorted, breaking her sandwich in two, leaving one half on the table and the other in her hand.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Clary ate the half of her sandwich, "It depends on how bad you want to go emo. How far you're willing to go." Jace's lips quirked up.

"Do you want to know how far I'm willing to go?" She nearly choked. Of course, five minutes into a conversation with Jace and things got downright dirty. He was even using that low, sexy voice that turned her on so much that she could barely breathe. And he was doing it in front of their friends!

Then she heard a cough from behind her, the kind people used to cover up a laugh. Clary whipped around to meet the smirking face of Isabelle. The dark-haired girl leaned in and whispered so only she could hear, "Okay, _now_ I ship it." Clary scowled, then she noticed Alec and Magnus wearing the same trying-not-to-laugh expressions and felt like she wanted to die.

She dared to turn around and saw the golden bastard's grinning face and in that moment, she wanted to punch it with all her might. Clary took a deep breath. She needed to beat this guy at his own game, otherwise she was going to turn into a puddle of hormones at his feet, "That depends. Are you willing to show me?"

Magnus wolf-whistled from across the table and Alec elbowed him sharply, though he looked impressed. Izzy chuckled and Jace... well, he looked awestruck. Completely speechless in fact. Clary's inner conscious was doing the perfect cheerleader routine, chanting _You got him, girl! Own it like a bitch!_ She had to admit, it did feel good!

Jace broke out of his trance and regarded her closely, pursing his lips, "Don't know that now is the time, Red. Someday, perhaps." Clary smirked.

"Someday." she promised and Jace smiled, showing a flash of white teeth.

Then Magnus cut in, "Hey Jace, you seen Instagram recently?" Clary's mind instantly broke into panic, looking up at Jace.

"Nah, my phone's at home. Dad took it, after my 'disgraceful attitude' towards 'my elders'." He did passionate air quotes and the relief in Clary's stomach was inevitable. Izzy shot Magnus a death-glare, a message that was clear between the four of us: _Don't tell him._ He got the hint and huffed, remaining silent. Of course, Jace would see it later, but better than was she wasn't around to see his reaction.

Then the bell rang, and everyone got up, saying goodbye. Izzy linked arms with Clary, pulling away from the guys and towards 10B, declaring, "We are so talking about this girl!"

Clary groaned. That was the last thing she needed.

* * *

 **Did you like that chapter? Shout out to the guest/s that asked for Simon and Sebastian to be in Clary's art class; I hope you're satisfied ;-)**

 **Another shout out, to lisakirabyron: I could do a Jace pov, for the next chapter maybe? Are there any other povs people want me to include?**

 **R and R?**

 **~InfernoAlive**


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